New Beginnings
by belladonnanoir
Summary: A conversation at Ian's funeral changes everything for Aria and Jason...
1. Chapter 1

**It's been a while since I posted here so quite nervous at posting a new story! Sorry about my absence, life just took over for a while and I was unable to post. Unfortunately my Beta was unavailable to look at this so any mistakes are my own. I hope you enjoy and if people like it, I will carry on and try make a series out of this. :) **

Locking eyes with him across the graveyard, Aria's breath was ripped away from her…the one person that she shouldn't want. He was sat on a stone bench, his eyes expressionless as he watched his former friend being lowered into the ground, the one that had killed his sister. Jason DiLaurentis sat as though carved from the stone he was sitting on. She could only imagine how he must feel, one person he trusted, only to find out how much he had abused that friendship. Her attention was ripped suddenly as Emily nudged her in the ribs subtly nodding at the open grave in front of them. Reluctantly she took a step forward, taking some of the dirt offered to her and threw it on top of Ian's coffin suppressing a shudder as she watched it hit the top of the wood. Moving back in line, she wrapped her arms around herself in a protective manner, her eyes drifting over the crowd, her mother, father, Mrs Hastings all the faces melting into one as she felt her breath catch when she saw Ezra standing behind her parents, his eyes fixed on her face. She looked at him briefly, a neutral expression on his face as he stared at her, all she wanted was some sort of comfort even just through body language but even today, he couldn't do it, he had pretty much told her that in the church when she thought he had come to support her.

Her gaze was drawn once more to Jason, his hands gripping his trouser's legs as though anchoring him to stop him from doing something drastic. She saw his gaze fleeting over the crowd before settling on Melissa Hastings and Garrett Reynolds, a look crossing his face that she couldn't quite decipher before he looked directly at her. She felt as though he was looking right into her soul, she couldn't take her eyes from him, green meeting brown, gazes locked across the graveyard, both forgetting everyone else around them. She had always had a thing for Jason, ever since she was young and if she wasn't mistaken, he felt something for her but she couldn't do anything about it, not with Ezra on the scene. She waited for the rush of guilt to flow through her at the thought of another man but to her surprise, nothing happened. It felt as though she and Ezra were coming to end, he refused to tell people about them even though she was ready, today only proved that. She couldn't be with someone who seemed ashamed of her, obviously, she understood the situation but there was ways of facing it. Unlike Jason who had spent time with her, going over Ali's things, talking to her, wanting to know her properly, the few times he seemed as he had wanted to kiss her. The night she told him, she was unavailable, her heart sank as she remembered the look of hurt on his face, something that she never wanted to see again and then the dreams she had been having of him ever since. As much as she tried to deny it, Jason DiLaurnetis was in her head and not leaving anytime soon, he was plaguing her every waking thought. Her face coloured slightly as she watched Jason's gaze roam her body, she barley caught the end of the service, her attention fixed solely on the man in front of her.

Her friends slowly started to move away ending her staring match as she moved with them. Against her better judgement, she started to move across the cemetery towards Jason when a hand grabbed her elbow, "Aria, where are you going?" Ezra asked.

"Going to speak to Jason, he looks as he needs to talk" she replied quickly, looking at her boyfriend, her eyes lowered to the hand on her elbow before she said sarcastically "You sure you should have your hand on my elbow…since you're too afraid to tell people about us, this doesn't look very good does it? A teacher manhandling his student." she spat out the last part, her eyes flashing with anger.

She felt the grip on her elbow tighten slightly before it was released, Ezra sighed in frustration his hand running through his hair "How many times do we need to go over this Aria, we can't come clean about this, think about what it would do to my career…you're so naïve sometimes"

"Your career? You don't think it wouldn't affect me as well Ezra, my reputation tarnished for having a relationship with a teacher but I thought it would be worth it so that we could be together. I'm not so sure now, I think you like having this secret and no matter what you're always going to be ashamed because I'm your student." Aria replied, her voice cracking slightly, swallowing deeply she said softly "I think we both need to think about what we want Ezra, I can't go on like this and I don't think you can either. Now if you excuse I'm going to speak to Jason."

"Aria. I…" he paused slightly, a look of anger briefly crossing his face before saying, "I think you might be right. We should take some time to think…see if this is really what we want."

She nodded before turning on heel and walking away from him unaware of his hardened glare at her back. Instead, she focused on the sad figure on the bench in front of her. Jason's gaze following her across the grass, a concerned look on his face. Stopping before him on the bench, she asked, "Can I sit?"

Moving slightly, he nodded to the space beside himself. "Everything ok?" he asked, his eyes watching Ezra leaving the cemetery "looked like a heavy conversation"

Sighing, Aria leaned back on her hands "Heavy is not the word for it, just made a decision that I'm not sure was the right one to make. Just need to see how things work out."

"That was the one you were unavailable for, wasn't it?"

Her face snapped to the side, surprise written across her features. "How did you know that?"

An unhappy smile crossed Jason's face "I saw the way you looked at him during the funeral and the way you were speaking to him was not just a teacher-student conversation. I could see it in the body language."

"You going to judge me?"

Jason shrugged, "Who am I to judge Aria? Look at the things I have done in my life, I would be a hypocrite to judge anyone. I was an alcoholic druggie that let a murderer into my home…yeah who am I to pass any kind of judgement." his shoulders sank, hands clasping in his lap as he stared at the grass.

Unable to watch him withdraw into himself, she reached across and took one of his hands in her own. "Don't blame yourself for Ian, you couldn't have known about that. No one could have, as for the rest of it, look how well you have done to get clean and sober. I'm really proud of you Jason, more than you realise." She felt his grip tighten around her own in response as she went on "You done a brave thing coming here, I don't think I could have in your position. That's testament right there to your strength."

"I don't feel strong, Aria, Far from it, some days I feel that burning urge to get a drink…"

"But you don't Jason and that's what's important. You are strong enough to do whatever you want." she replied fiercely

"If I was that strong, I would have told you how I felt about you ages ago, long before the teacher was on the scene" He blurted out, his cheeks colouring as he realised what he said.

"Ezra is gone, I think the whole relationship was mistake…I'm sick of being treated like a dirty secret. We have to hide constantly and on days like this when I need some sort of comfort, he keeps me at arms length because we can't cross a certain boundary. No matter what he said, it was never going to change and I needed to do something about it." Sighing heavily, she stares at her and Jason's entwined hands and thinks about what could have been, if only she could have given them a chance. "All I can think about is what I have given up just to be with him. Things that could have happened between…" she stopped unable to say us to him, leaving the implication lying between them.

She didn't see Jason's free hand lifting until his fingers grazed her cheek in a soft caress, "You don't deserve to be treated like that Aria. You should have someone who wants to take you out, to be proud of being with you. Damn him for making you feel like this, it's not right. You're amazing…I know loads of people that would love to have been in his place"

Aria slowly lifted her gaze to him, swallowing deeply before softly asking "including you?"

"Including me…I've always had feelings for you, from the second I laid eyes on you, I knew I wanted to know more about you. And I certainly would have never hidden any relationship with you, Fitz crossed a line when getting involved with you but I understand the need to be with you. If it was me though I would have moved mountains just to be able to call you my girlfriend and no matter what I would have never hidden you."

Leaning into his hand, her eyes fluttered shut, enjoying the silky soft feel of his fingers underneath her cheek, "You have been on my thoughts for the last few weeks now. I haven't been able to stop thinking about you, I can't sleep. Every time I close my eyes you're there." she blurted out, eyes flying open to meet Jason's stunned gaze. "I'm sorry…I should go." she pulled away from, jumping to her feet and moving away from the bench.

Tripping over her heels, she fell to her knees, hands scrambling at the dirt when Jason dropped to his knees in front of her. Grasping her wrists in his strong grasp, he forced her to look at him. "Don't run away Aria, not from me…never from me, I care about you too much for that. I'm the one who should be sorry; I kept coming to you, trying to insert myself in your life to make you see that you had other options other than Fitz. I didn't want you torturing yourself over me."

"Jason, it's not torture, just the opposite actually. I can't begin to tell you what has been on my mind. I'm happy that you have been around, it has opened my eyes. I've been trying to figure out for ages how to tell Ezra that I wanted to break up with him…ever since I helped you with Ali's stuff. The thing is Jason, it's you, I always think its been you, I just needed a helping hand to see that." Aria's voice broke, as tears began to slowly streak down her cheeks.

"Don't cry Aria. It's all going to be ok," Jason whispered as his face slowly lowered towards her, his lips slotting over hers. Without any hesitation, her lips parted, his tongue quickly slipping between hers, sparks flying between them. She felt as though she had come home, she slipped her wrists from his hands and raised them to his neck pulling him closer to her. Strong arms wrapped around her waist, her body pushing against his hard lines as their kiss deepened. This felt right, more so than it ever had with Ezra.

Pulling away from her, Jason breathed heavily trying to catch his breath. Staring at her with a look of determination, he said, "I'm not letting you go Aria, not this time. All I ask for is a chance, a chance to show that we can be good together"

Nodding, Aria smiled "Yes, I want to give this chance, see where it can go."

Jason grinned in response pulling her in for another kiss.

Right there on the grass in a cemetery a new beginning was forged, an interesting future ahead of them but that's story for another time…


	2. Chapter 2

**I just want to thank everyone who took the time to review my first chapter. I've decided to go ahead and continue the story so I hope you enjoy! **

Leaving the graveyard hand in hand, Jason had driven Aria home with a promise to call her. Only a day later, he rang to ask her if she would like to go for dinner the next day. Accepting immediately, a rush of excitement ran through her. With only hours to go, Aria was now stuck with no idea on what to wear, she had told her mother she was going for dinner with Jason but hadn't told her that it was more romantic than friendly, she wasn't ready for the questions just yet, not on the first date.

Deciding on a black skirt with a red top and boots, she looked at herself in the mirror, nerves overcoming her as she counted down the minutes to the doorbell ringing. Grabbing her keys and phone, she threw them in her bag and headed downstairs just in time for the doorbell ringing. Quickly bypassing her mother and brother, she slipped out the door, to be met with a sight that left her speechless, Jason was gorgeous, wearing a dark shirt and trousers with a tie, Aria struggled to keep her hands off him as they looked at each other.

"You look amazing Aria," he said, his eyes roaming over her, the bouncing on his feet slightly giving away his own nerves.

"Thank you, you do as well" she replied, her hands clasping and unclasping in front of her. From the corner of her eye, she could see the curtains twitch, knowing that they were being spied on; she subtly nodded her head towards the window before saying, "shall we go?"

Jason's eyes flickered to the curtains, a look of amusement dancing in them when he realised they were being watched. "Let's go", he put what looked like nothing more than a platonic hand on her back and guided her towards his car.

Behind the wheel, Jason drummed his fingers nervously as he slowly navigated the roads towards the town. "I got us reservations at the grill, is that ok? It was the best that I could do in such a short space of time. Sorry if you wanted to do anything else" he rambled.

Aria looked at him, moved her hand to cover his on the gear stick "It is perfect Jason, don't worry so much. I'm here to be out with you, it doesn't matter where that is."

A smile crossed his lips, body relaxing as he continued through the town. Pulling up outside the grill, Jason jumped out, coming round to help Aria out of the car. Hand placed on her back again, they walked inside the restaurant. "Reservation for DiLaurentis" he said as they reached the maitre d'

Walking across the floor, the first thing that Aria noticed was how quiet it was, unusually so but that was good. She didn't want to have answer any questions about anything at the moment, especially since it was so new to them both. Seated across from each other, both of them kept sneaking looks at the other whilst reading their menus.

"Can I get you anything to drink?" a voice said to the side of them, drawing them away from their attention on one another.

"I'll just have a coke" Jason replied softly.

"Me too" Aria said quickly, an understanding smile flashed at her date.

Neither noticed their waiter walk away, there eyes only on each other, so much so that when the waiter returned with their drinks, they both jumped in shock. Silently they watched the drinks being placed in front of them before ordering their food.

Staring at the cutlery in front of her, Aria began to giggle, her gaze rising to meet Jason's confused look. "I'm sorry, this just feels so awkward, I mean we have known each other for years Jason, you wouldn't know to look at us."

Jason chuckled back, his fingers playing with the knife in front of you. "I guess it is, we should just act the way we normally do around each other."

"Ok, I can do that." She replied.

A self-conscious look crossed his face, "I have a confession to make though. As soon as I dropped you home, I had wanted to call you Aria. Waiting even one day was hell; I just wanted to hear your voice and to ask you out."

"If I'm honest, the second I got out of the car, I wanted to turn back, spend some more time with you. The other day, really brought things to light for me Jason. I knew already that I had feelings for you but talking to you, talking to Ezra really made me aware of what I should be doing." Aria began to confess. "I knew as soon as I saw you when you first came back to Rosewood that I couldn't stay away from you. Even before Ali…well I always watched you, even when you were stoned I was hooked on you. No matter what you done back then, I have always seen something in you Jason." She stared at him across the table, watching a faint blush cross his cheeks.

He seemed to be gathering his thoughts when he reached across the table and grasped one of her hands "I always saw you, the girl with the pink streaks, the one who refused to conform like the rest. After Ali disappeared and we left Rosewood, I thought about you and what you were doing." Aria tightened her grasp around his fingers watching as he struggled to get his words out, "so many times I thought about staying here, keeping an eye over you, if something had happened to Ali, what was to stop it happening from you and I didn't want that to happen but I had to leave"

"I understand that Jason, you had to be with your family" Aria said, her heart clenching as he spoke of wanting to protect her, if only he knew how much she needed it with A about but she couldn't tell him about it, she couldn't put him in danger. She opened her mouth just as their waiter appeared with the food causing them both to let go of their hands. Both watched each other ignoring the plates being put down in front of them until the waiter left quietly. Picking up her fork, she decided to delve in and get the heavy conversation out of the way, "how are you doing with everything Jason? I know we talked a little yesterday but I would really like to know."

Chuckling wryly, he looked over at her, pasta just touching his lips before saying "How much time do you have Aria?" he put his fork down, face serious as he said "I wake up some nights feeling as though Ali is still here, I know we didn't have the best relationship but I miss her. No matter what she was, my little sister and I did love her. I wake up other nights in cold sweats realising that I was the one who brought Ian into our lives, that if I had never gotten involved with him, that she may still be here. I sometimes question on whether he could have done it, I knew him, knew what he was really like and murdering someone was the last thing I think of…really my mind is just a mess to the point that I don't know how I am."

This time Aria reached across the table, her fingers dancing across Jason's wrist as she spoke "Like I said to you yesterday, you couldn't have known about Ian. Ali may have acted as if she hated you but I know that she didn't Jason. She loved you and watched over you when you didn't know it. You need to stop blaming yourself for everything and if you will let me, I'll help you with that" she tailed off, the last bit of sentence so quiet she wasn't sure if he heard her, her heart pounding at what his response would be.

"I will let you" he replied softly, his eyes shining brightly with emotions that she knew were reflected in her own. Taking her hand back to her side, they both began to eat in a comfortable silence when Jason broke it suddenly "what a first date huh? We get talking about the heavy stuff…I'm sorry Aria"

"I'm enjoying it Jason, I get to spend the evening with you and I like that we can talk about the heavy stuff. I want you to know how much I care about you and that I will always be here to talk to. Probably my biggest issue with Ezra was a lack of communication" she replied finishing off her plate. Leaning back in her chair, she gave him a warm smile meaning every word that she said.

Jason mimicked her motion leaning back in his own chair, hands clasping one another in front of him, a curious look in his eyes when he asked, "Should I even ask about Fitz? Do I need to be worried, I know this our first date but I really want this to go somewhere Aria."

Laughing, Aria spluttered, "That is a road for another night I think Jason and no you have nothing to be worried about. I told him yesterday that I was done. If you really want to know about it, I'll tell you but you're the only person who knows, I've kept it secret from everyone."

"We can talk about it some other time, right now lets focus on us and don't worry I'm good at keeping secrets. Now tell me how your family is?" Jason said. Aria began to spill her guts over her parents and her brother who was constantly disappearing to only knows where. Checking his watch, he looked up regretfully, "I hate to say this but I think we need to get you home."

The pair stood, Aria waiting at the door as Jason went to pay the bill before leading them outside into the cool air. On the drive back to Aria's, she leaned into the soft seat in the car, her body more relaxed than she had ever felt when she said, "I want to tell people about us. I don't want it to be a secret not from people that I care about."

Taking his hand from the gear stick and cupping her cheek, he replied softly "I'm fine with that Aria, we can tell whoever you like and at your own pace. Like I said before, I would never hide you!" Far too quickly, they reached her front door. Putting the car in to park, Jason stared at her silently before lifting both his hands to her cheeks, framing her face as he whispered, "You're so beautiful." Leaning forward, he sealed his lips over hers, the kiss even better than the one yesterday as he gently bit her bottom lip, pulling at it and increasing his pressure, a small moan escaping from her as she leaned into the kiss, her hands slipping up and down his shirt desperate to feel the skin underneath her touch. Pulling away from her reluctantly he grinned "don't think your parents should find out about us by seeing us make out in my car as much as I really like that option. I want to do this right, so now I'm getting you out of this car and in the door before I refuse to let you out and I'll call you tomorrow."

Aria laughed, both of them breaking into a fit of giggles, nodding she pulled away completely, grasping her bag and settling her hand on the handle before swinging round and placing one last breath taking kiss on Jason's lips. Mischievously pulling away, Aria darted out the car and up the path to her home "see you later Jason."

Turning round the last thing she saw as she closed the door was a massive grin on Jason's face as he leaned his head back against his seat. As soon as she locked the door, she leaned against it, a goofy smile crossing her face. Most people may have looked at this date as a disaster with the dinner conversation but to her it was perfect and things could only get better. Dropping her bag on the table, she headed up the stairs to her room, unaware of the phone vibrating in her bag nor her mother watching her from the kitchen, watching the happiness radiating from her daughter, something that she had not seen in a long time. Turning back to her dishes, she figured that she should probably start setting a dinner place for Jason DiLaurentis since it seemed as though he was going to be a permanent fixture in their lives.


End file.
